A.N.: I did not invent the characters Requiem, Nessa, Rubiee, Discordia, or ShadowCat.

Skyrin listened the pounding of her feet against the frozen earth as she ran. Her ragged breathing almost blocked out the sounds of hoof beats behind her, but not enough that she couldn't hear them fast approaching. Skyrin's breath caught in her throat as she heard them growing close behind. She mustered up all of her strength for an extra burst of speed, but her attempt was futile. She felt a strong arm around her waist, and she was lifted up onto a horse. She felt a hand around her mouth and heard a voice in her ear.

"Relax, I'm here to help you," came the deep male voice. Skyrin nodded and lost consciousness.

Skyrin woke up to sunlight streaming through a window and onto her face. Her memory was not fully intact, but a few fleeting images came back to her. She remembered a large tree, being passed between people, and a group of unfamiliar faces. As her vision cleared, she realized that three of the faces were now before her. There was a woman who looked to be in about her 20's with red hair and a belt full of keys. She looked at Skyrin with curiosity. Skyrin's eyes roved to a woman who was older than the first, with dark hair and covered in leaves. Her eyes held concern. Skyrin noticed the youngest last. She was a small girl with light red hair; she seemed to be bouncing on her toes and gazed at skyrin with an excited curiosity.

"She's awake!" squealed the youngest, smallest one.

"Shh, Nessa. You'll scare her," gently said the dark haired woman, "Are you all right dear?" she addressed Skyrin.

"Where am I?" asked Skyrin.

"You're a human, aren't you?" said the small one. It wasn't exactly the answer that Skyrin had been hoping for.

"Well, yeah, but…" started Skyrin before she was cut off by one of the women.

"How did you get to this side of the veil?"

"I don't know what that is. I don't even know where I am. I fell asleep under a tree and woke up in a meadow surrounded by men on horses," responded Skyrin.

"What did the men look like?" asked the oldest woman.

"They were all tall and thin, with black cloaks. There was this one in particular. He had black hair and silver eyes. Most of them had black horses, but his was white," recounted Skyrin. At her answer the women all exchanged nervous glances.

"What happened?" asked the woman with the bright red hair.

"Well," started Skyrin, "I fell asleep under a tree and woke up in a frozen meadow with the men. They tried to make me come with them. I begged them to let me go but, they wouldn't. So I ran away and they chased me. Then some other man saved me and I woke up here."

"When you were begging, you didn't make any deals did you?"

"I don't think so."

"You have to be exact Skyrin."

"How do you know my name?"

"I'll tell you later, right now you have to answer my question."

"No, I don't even know you people. I'm not telling you anything."

"Please, Skyrin, we just want to help you." Skyrin thought about it for a minute, but could tell be the women's faces that it was probably a good idea to trust them.

"Well, I said that I would do anything if they would let me go, but they never agreed and they didn't let me go." The women seemed truly alarmed now. They were all looking at each other and some were looking at Skyrin sympathetically. The woman with the keys finally stepped forward and began to explain.

"Okay, here's the whole story, you are in the world of the Fae. That tree must have been an opening in the veil. The man that tried to take you with him was prince Tallyn of the winter court. Word is that his mother is making him find a wife. We expect that that is why he tried to take you with him. He must have been watching you and maybe even led you to the opening. Faeries take deals very seriously. They are binding and unbreakable in this world. Now, you have a little problem, you accidentally made a deal with him. There is no way that you could have escaped, so that means he let you go and if he ever finds you, you will have to do or give him anything that he asks. Now, let us introduce ourselves. My name is Rubiee, member of the winter court and mistress of the keys. I'm also a pooka and glitter bomber extraordinaire. "

"I'm Nessa," exclaimed the small one. "I'm a nixie and an anthropologist(I study humans). I also belong to the spring court."

"What's a nixie?" asked Skyrin.

"It's a type of water faerie," responded Nessa, "and that's Discordia she…"continued Nessa before Rubiee put a hand over her mouth and the dark haired woman spoke.

"I can introduce myself Nessa. I'm Discordia, the autumn court archivist."

"There's also ShadowCat and Requiem. You've already met them."

"I have?"

"Yep. ShadowCat is part of the summer court. He's a satyr and the prince of dreams, that's how you met him."

"In my dreams?"

"Uhuh."

"Isn't that a little invasive?"

"That's what we try to him, but sometimes the whole seeing peoples' dreams thing comes in handy," said Nessa.

"And who'd Requiem?"

"He's the knight who saved you. He doesn't belong to a court," said Rubiee.

"Okay. Um, do you think that I can go back to sleep. This is a lot to take in."

"Of course dear," said Discordia. As Discordia and Nessa left the room, Rubiee walked up to Skyrin bent down to talk to her.

"Just a warning, you might want to be careful around Requiem."

"Why? He doesn't seem bad, he saved me after all."

"He's not bad, he just has a thing for pretty young girls." Leaving it at that, Rubiee turned and left the room. Skyrin fell asleep quickly after, and dreamt of handsome knights wicked princes.